Rick Perry sells state government and public office to his campaign donors. His use of political appointees as arms of his campaign re-election team is one of the easiest and most thoroughly documented examples of his unending corruption. Overall, Perry’s pay-to-play public corruption practices have rewarded him with $17 million in campaign cash from his political appointees and their spouses. From a report based on contributions through the July 30 reporting periods by Texans for Public Justice:

From 2001 through June 2010 Perry’s campaign received $17,115,865 from 921 of these appointees or their spouses. Gubernatorial appointees accounted for an impressive 21 percent of the $83.2 million that Perry’s campaign has raised since 2001.

An analysis by the Texas Tribune showed that Perry collected $5.8 million from people who he appointed to influential positions at the state's colleges and universities.

About Author

Currently the Research and Policy Director for Progress Texas and the Texas Research Institute, Phillip Martin writes occasional long-form pieces for BOR that promote focused analysis and insight into Texas politics. Born and raised in Austin, Phillip started working in politics in 2003 and started writing on BOR in the summer of 2005. Phillip has worked for the Texas Democratic Trust, the Texas Legislative Study Group, and now the Progress Texas family. He is a lifelong Houston Astros fan, a loyal Longhorn, and loves swimming at Barton Springs Pool.